December 2013

Satellite broadband provider ViaSat launched a new price plan in 30 states that will provide unlimited e-mail and web page access.

Other types of Internet use -- including music, streaming media and chat -- will be capped, however. And the cap will be lower than for a lower-priced offering that was previously announced and will continue to be available. The new offering, dubbed Exede Evolution, will cost $69.95 monthly and, like ViaSat’s previously announced offerings, will support broadband speeds of up to 12 Mbps downstream and up to 3 Mbps upstream. ViaSat previously announced a $49.99 offering with a 7.5 GB cap for $49.99, as well as a $79.95 offering with a 15 GB cap. “A significant segment of our customer base values unlimited, high-speed access to web pages and email,” said ViaSat Vice President of Satellite Services Lisa Scalpone in the announcement. For a limited time, customers interested in the new plan will not have to pay the $149.99 set-up fee, ViaSat said. In addition an “Early Bird Free Zone” gives customers unmetered access to “everything on the Internet,” including video, from 3:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. daily.

The government put out a call for businesses that could address concerns at HealthCare.gov, the federal health insurance exchange.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services asked small businesses to describe experience that compared in "size, scope and complexity" to the skills needed to create the website. "This appears to signify the possible displeasure with some of the current IT vendors and the hope that CMS will lure in more IT contracting talent," said Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight. "With the failure of the HealthCare.gov platform, CMS is reaching out to others to supplement the current list of preapproved IT vendors. This is the first step to determine if other vendors, possibly small companies, are interested and capable." The deadline for businesses to submit is Jan 13, 2014. After choosing potential vendors, the CMS plans to conduct an "industry day" to meet with selected vendors.

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed $3.56 million in fines against Consumer Telcom (CTI), for apparently engaging in deceptive marketing practices, changing consumers’ preferred long distance carriers without their authorization (“slamming”), billing consumers for unauthorized charges (“cramming”), and failing to describe telephone charges plainly and clearly as required by federal law.

Numerous consumers complained that CTI’s telemarketers had tricked them into believing that the telemarketers were calling on behalf of the consumers’ existing long distance providers. The consumers were then shocked to learn that CTI had switched their preferred long distance carrier and billed them for charges they had not authorized. In many cases, CTI apparently took advantage of consumers by masking the true purpose of the call and then profiting from their obvious confusion about the questions they were asked. Many of the deceived consumers were elderly, hearing impaired, or infirm.

AT&T agreed to sell its Connecticut landline unit, including Internet and TV services, to Frontier Communications for $2 billion, letting the company focus on the more lucrative wireless business.

Frontier will get all of AT&T’s phone customers and U-verse television and broadband subscribers in the state, as well as satellite-TV users. The move continues AT&T’s shift away from its roots as Ma Bell, the dominant provider of US landline phone service. “AT&T has been trying to sell its rural wireline businesses for some time,” said Gerard Hallaren, an analyst with Janco Partners Inc. “It looks to me like Frontier cherry-picked a nice asset at a nice price from AT&T.” It might seem surprising that AT&T is selling lines that have already been modernized at a time when the company is devoting considerable attention to upgrading its network infrastructure nationwide through Project Velocity IP. But the deal isn’t so surprising considering what’s happening – or more precisely isn’t happening -- on the policy front in Connecticut. AT&T has been lobbying hard for legislation to deregulate telecom in states where it offers landline service and in many states has succeeded. As the company noted in a press release about the deal with Frontier today, the company’s goal is to transform its operations to “an all-IP, wireless and cloud network.” The legislation that AT&T has succeeded in getting passed in some states gives the company more flexibility to phase out traditional services. But efforts to pass that type of legislation in Connecticut have not been successful – and that reality may have played into AT&T’s decision to get out of the landline business in that state.